Migraine

People with migraine—in particular migraine with aura—have a heightened risk of depression, according to research conducted in The Netherlands. By comparing heritability scores for depression between controls and individuals with migraine, Stam et al. showed that this association could be at least partly attributable to shared genetic factors. Identification of these factors could provide important insights into the etiology of migraine and depression.

Epilepsy

Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy that presents a considerable therapeutic challenge for clinicians. Lee et al. assessed the outcome of resective epilepsy surgery in 27 children and adolescents who had LGS and exhibited generalized and multiregional abonormalities on EEG. Over 50% of the patients remained free of seizures on long-term follow-up (mean 33.1 months after surgery). The investigators recommend that resective surgery should be considered in children with LGS, even in the absence of overt lesions on MRI.

Aging

Ginkgo biloba failed to prevent cognitive decline in elderly individuals in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study recruited 3,069 individuals aged 72–96 years, who were randomly assigned to receive a twice-daily dose of G. biloba or placebo, and were followed up for a median of 6.1 years. Despite having been widely touted as an aid to cognitive health, the herbal supplement demonstrated no significant benefits over placebo in this large cohort.

Headache

Detection of medication overuse is essential to ensure the appropriate treatment of patients with secondary chronic headache. Lundqvist and colleagues compared medication usage patterns against Severity of Dependence (SDS) scores in 113 individuals with secondary chronic headache. The researchers found that high SDS scores, which indicate dependency-like behavior, showed a positive correlation with medication overuse, and they suggest that this scoring system could aid the management of patients with secondary chronic headache.